Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 17, 1991 TAG: 9103170133
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium
"I liked the way they played," he said. "In fact, I was so impressed with them that I invited them to come up next year and play in our Christmas tournament. They accepted, too.
"But after the first quarter today, I was ready to take [the invitation] back."
Deegan wasn't the only one who left the tournament at William and Mary Hall this week with a newfound respect for the Cougars. Pulaski County, which has had only the second winning girls' basketball season in school history, hung with the nationally ranked Warhawks to the end before falling 65-47.
In so doing, Pulaski County became only the second team this year to have less than a double-figure deficit during the second half to James Madison. The Warhawks (29-0) had an average regular-season margin of victory of 47 points. They won one game by 85.
"I couldn't be more pleased and proud of my team if it had won the world championship," Pulaski County coach Rod Reedy said. "You can't play any harder and with any more heart than these athletes did."
James Madison produced one of its trademark blitzes in each half, but the Cougars wouldn't buckle. The Cougars were within striking distance until their own exhaustion and a precision James Madison spread offense converged for an 8-1 closing run.
Pulaski County, which was down 16 points in the first half, was down 38-36 and had the ball in the third quarter and trailed 46-42 to start the fourth quarter but could not catch up.
Each time, Jackie Freeman, Madison's superb point guard, sank a 3-pointer that had as much of a psychological and emotional impact as a practical one.
"I was really open for those," said Freeman, who had three 3-pointers, 22 points, eight rebounds and seven steals. "After I hit the first couple, I felt better because I'd missed a few in the first half."
The way Reedy had it figured, if it wasn't Freeman, it was bound to be somebody else.
"They just come at you from so many different ways," he said. "They don't just have one or two players who can make the perimeter shot; they've got five. They don't just have one or two players who can make the inside shot; they've got five."
Four players scored in double figures, and the defense harried Pulaski County into 28 turnovers, 18 in the first half. Madison shot 47.3 percent for the game and had 18 steals.
To make matters more difficult for the Cougars (23-3), point guard Terry Garland was having a dreadful time. The team's leading scorer at 17 points per game, Garland collected her third foul in the first quarter and her fourth with 3:22 left in the first half. Garland, who also was suffering from a digestive ailment, finished with six points and only two assists, but she never fouled out.
When Garland was forced to sit with her foul difficulties, Becky Smith came on in relief. She scored 15 points to go with six rebounds and four assists.
But the player who really kept the Cougars in the game was Cindy Martin, who had made the winning shot in a 44-42 semifinal stunner over heavily favored Phoebus.
Martin scored 17 of the Cougars' last 19 points of the first half, including the last eight as they slashed a 16-point lead to 36-26 at halftime.
Martin finished with a game-high 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting to accompany 10 rebounds. She and Lena Jones teamed for 23 rebounds as the Cougars outrebounded Madison 34-30.
"[The Warhawks] were trying too hard to cut off the first pass," Martin said. "They were trying to double- and triple-team the guards and leaving me wide open."
Pulaski County is the first Roanoke Valley District team to play in the title game. Before the Cougars and Cave Spring did it this year, no team from the league had advanced beyond the opening round.
"Our whole objective coming up here was to show people that Pulaski County came to play, that we weren't happy just showing up to be here," Reedy said. "I think we did that."
see microfilm for box score
by CNB